Turbulent exchange coefficients for the ice/ocean interface in case of rapid melting

Sirevaag, Anders

doi:10.1029/2008gl036587

Cited by 41 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…c H = 0.0057 for the year-long SHEBA project in the western Arctic (McPhee, 2008a); 0.0056 for first-year ice in the Weddell Gyre . Furthermore, it almost matches the c H = 0.0084 determined for rapid melting in the eastern Arctic (Sirevaag, 2009). This suggests any different behaviour in heat flux is due to the velocity structure induced by the roughness.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Turbulent heat transfer as a control of platelet ice growth in supercooled under-ice ocean boundary layers

et al. 2016

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Abstract. Late winter measurements of turbulent quantities in tidally modulated flow under land-fast sea ice near the Erebus Glacier Tongue, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, identified processes that influence growth at the interface of an ice surface in contact with supercooled seawater. The data show that turbulent heat exchange at the ocean-ice boundary is characterized by the product of friction velocity and (negative) water temperature departure from freezing, analogous to similar results for moderate melting rates in seawater above freezing. Platelet ice growth appears to increase the hydraulic roughness (drag) of fast ice compared with undeformed fast ice without platelets. Platelet growth in supercooled water under thick ice appears to be rate-limited by turbulent heat transfer and that this is a significant factor to be considered in mass transfer at the underside of ice shelves and sea ice in the vicinity of ice shelves.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Turbulent heat transfer as a control of platelet ice growth in supercooled under-ice ocean boundary layers

et al. 2016

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“…Melting rates around 10 cm/d have been observed in the Marginal Ice Zone north of Spitsbergen under conditions with relatively warm water combined with strong surface heat flux [Sirevaag, 2009]. Most of the time, our model estimated melting rates are below 10 cm/d, or 10 cm/d is within the uncertainty range.…”

Section: Uncertaintiesmentioning

confidence: 64%

Winter sea ice melting in the Atlantic Water subduction area, Svalbard Norway

et al. 2014

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Herein, we study a small area along the shelf west of Spitsbergen, near Prins Karls Forland, where warm, saline Atlantic Water of the West Spitsbergen Current currently first encounters sea ice. This sea ice is drifting in a coastal current that carries Arctic Water originating from the Barents Sea northward over the shelf. Our aim was to investigate whether melting of sea ice by Atlantic Water in this area might be a significant factor that could contribute to the formation of a cold halocline layer that isolates the sea ice from further melting from below. Observations of temperature and salinity profiles were collected during two winters, via CTD-SRDL instruments deployed on harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), and fed into a heat and freshwater budget box model in order to quantify the importance of melting relative to other processes that could transform the shelf water mass during winter. Cross-frontal exchange of Atlantic Water from the West Spitsbergen Current, driven by buoyancy forcing rather than Ekman upwelling, was determined to be the source of the heat that melted drift ice on the shelf. Some local sea ice formation did take place, but its importance in the total heat and freshwater budgets appeared to be minor. The data suggest that the production of a cold halocline layer was preceded by southerly winds and rapid drift ice melting.

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“…A crucial parameter for these equations is the ratio of the exchange coefficients T. Vihma et al: Small-scale physical processes in the marine Arctic climate system for heat and salt transfer across this interface. Here, recent measurements point towards a value of about 35 (Sirevaag, 2009;McPhee, 2008). The physical mechanisms that determine this value are, however, currently not well understood.…”

Section: Ice-ocean Interface: Exchange Of Momentum Heat and Saltmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in understanding and parameterization of small-scale physical processes in the marine Arctic climate system: a review

et al. 2014

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Abstract. The Arctic climate system includes numerous highly interactive small-scale physical processes in the atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean. During and since the International Polar Year 2007-2009, significant advances have been made in understanding these processes. Here, these recent advances are reviewed, synthesized, and discussed. In atmospheric physics, the primary advances have been in cloud physics, radiative transfer, mesoscale cyclones, coastal, and fjordic processes as well as in boundary layer processes and surface fluxes. In sea ice and its snow cover, advances have been made in understanding of the surface albedo and its relationships with snow properties, the internal structure of sea ice, the heat and salt transfer in ice, the formation of superimposed ice and snow ice, and the small-scale dynamics of sea ice. For the ocean, significant advances have been related to exchange processes at the ice-ocean interface, diapycnal mixing, double-diffusive convection, tidal currents and diurnal resonance. Despite this recent progress, some of these small-scale physical processes are still not sufficiently understood: these include wave-turbulence interactions in the atmosphere and ocean, the exchange of heat and salt at the ice-ocean interface, and the mechanical weakening of sea ice. Many other processes are reasonably well understood as stand-alone processes but the challenge is to understand their interactions with and impacts and feedbacks on other processes. Uncertainty in the parameterization of small-scale processes continues to be among the greatest challenges facing climate modelling, particularly in high latitudes. Further improvements in parameterization require new year-round field campaigns on the Arctic sea ice, closely combined with satellite remote sensing studies and numerical model experiments.

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Turbulent exchange coefficients for the ice/ocean interface in case of rapid melting

Cited by 41 publications

References 19 publications

Turbulent heat transfer as a control of platelet ice growth in supercooled under-ice ocean boundary layers

Turbulent heat transfer as a control of platelet ice growth in supercooled under-ice ocean boundary layers

Winter sea ice melting in the Atlantic Water subduction area, Svalbard Norway

Advances in understanding and parameterization of small-scale physical processes in the marine Arctic climate system: a review

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